Tag: North Korea

Koreas discuss reunions for war-separated families

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea on Friday held Red Cross talks to discuss resuming reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the latest step in the diplomatic thaw on the peninsula. Millions of people were separated during the conflict that sealed the division between the two Koreas nearly 70 years ago. Most died without having a chance to see or hear from their relatives on the other side of […]

N. Korea ‘already starting’ denuclearization: Trump

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korea has already begun its denuclearization, US President Donald Trump said Thursday, after many observers greeted with skepticism the results of his historic meeting with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un. “They’ve already blown up one of their big test sites. In fact, it was actually four of their big test sites. And the big thing is, it will be a total denuclearization, which is already starting,” Trump said at a cabinet […]

Japan halts missile drills after Trump-Kim summit: reports

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has halted evacuation drills simulating a North Korean missile attack in the wake of historic talks between Washington and Pyongyang, local media reported Thursday. Government officials did not immediately confirm the reports, but authorities in one town told AFP they were suspending a drill planned for next week on orders from Tokyo. The decision comes after US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un met last week […]

Moon suggests Russian gas be piped to Koreas, Japan

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — New pipelines could be laid to bring Russian gas through North Korea to the South and even on to Japan following the diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, Seoul’s leader suggested Wednesday. President Moon Jae-in was speaking to Russian news media before a three-day visit to Moscow starting Thursday, with the presidential Blue House releasing the transcript. Russia and South Korea agreed in 2008 to lay gas pipelines through the North to […]

North Korea’s Kim hails ‘unity’ with China in new visit

by Becky Davis Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Kim Jong Unwrapped up Wednesday his third visit to China this year, declaring North Korea’s unstinting “friendship” with Beijing in a show of loyalty to his main ally following a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump. The two-day visit was designed to reassure Beijing that Pyongyang will not neglect its interests as Trump and the young autocrat move into uncharted diplomatic terrain. The performance […]

North Korea’s Kim hails ‘unity’ with China in new visit

  by Becky Davis © Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Kim Jong Un declared North Korea’s unstinting “friendship, unity and cooperation” with Beijing during his third visit to China this year, in a show of loyalty to his main ally following a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump. The two-day visit which ends Wednesday is designed to reassure Beijing that Pyongyang will not neglect its interests as Trump and the young autocrat move into […]

Updated: North Korea’s Kim makes two-day visit to China

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making a two-day visit to Beijing, Chinese state media reported Tuesday, a week after his unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump. The outing comes as China has sought to strengthen its role as a mediator between the US and North Korea, where Beijing claims compelling security and economic interests. Dozens of security vans, police cars and armoured vehicles lined streets around Beijing’s Diaoyutai State […]

North Korea’s Kim visiting China Tuesday and Wednesday: state media

BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting China on Tuesday and Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said, a week after his unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump. CCTV did not say whether Kim had arrived in Beijing, but security lined the freeway leading to the city’s airport Tuesday morning as authorities prepared for his arrival. The trip will be Kim’s third to China since March, when he made his inaugural foreign […]

US, S. Korea confirm suspending military drills

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The US and South Korean militaries confirmed Tuesday they have called off upcoming joint exercises, after President Donald pledged to halt the drills in the wake of his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Seoul, which has tens of thousands of US troops on its soil to help protect it from its hostile northern neighbour, said the suspension would affect the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises slated for August. […]

Seoul says North Korea sanctions may be eased before full denuclearization

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Monday that sanctions against North Korea could be eased once it takes “substantive steps towards denuclearization”, seemingly setting the bar lower than Washington for such a move. Last week’s Singapore summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un produced only a vague statement in which Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”. Amid fears […]

Major US military exercises with South Korea ‘suspended indefinitely’

  by Thomas Watkins, with Ben Dooley in Beijing Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military has indefinitely postponed major joint exercises with South Korea, an official told AFP on Thursday, acting on President Donald Trump’s pledge to halt the “provocative” military drills following his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The move, a significant break in how the US and South Korean militaries have worked together for decades, came […]

Japan working to arrange Abe-Kim talks: reports

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan is working to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Kim Jong Un after the North Korean leader said he was open to talks, local media reported Thursday. The Sankei Shimbun said Kim discussed the possibility during historic talks Tuesday with US President Donald Trump. “During the summit with Trump, Kim told Trump ‘I can meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’,” the Sankei reported. Japan wants the talks to […]